Miska brings the poetry into our marriage, in more ways than one. But it is certainly true that most of the poets I like, Miska has introduced to me. Miska shared Denise Levertov’s “Avowal” with me recently, and it truly sings:
As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.
Freefall. Love and grace and mercy and acceptance and hope, all wrapped up beautifully in one single word.
We really can lean into life. We really can unclench our fists. We really can step off the mental merry-go-round. We really can be loved – and love freely in return. We really can trust. We really can live. Freefall.
Exquisite beauty in these words. I often tell people faith isn’t faith until to fall off the cliff and…just fall. Thank you for sharing.
can be scary though, huh?
Funny, I just shared that poem on my facebook page this morning. Daring beauty and such an invitation. Grace always feels like falling, especially to those of us prone to cling to righteousness. https://www.facebook.com/#!/AFieldOfWildFlowers
well, seems like maybe the universe is up to something…
shared with my competitive swimmer grandson….
hope he enjoys it, alice
Reminds me of Willard’s insistence that the universe is a perfectly safe place for us to be… very appealing, very hard to believe, even harder to step out on.
Just came across this poem of mine from April that fits:
Large-hearted Jesus,
If I could feel your embrace
I could walk safely.
thanks for Dallas’ words, and yours.
Sigh.
Just what I need to hear, as my circumstances are trending downhill. In the last few years, I have developed the bad habit of clenching my teeth in my sleep (!)
I have to remind myself that in Acts 12, Peter could have been facing death in the next few days, yet was sleeping so soundly that the angel had to “struck him on the side” (that expression cracks me up).
And Marcy thank you for that beautiful poem.
You’re welcome. It was good to find it again. Especially having to read Ps 78 in the Office this morning… that psalm does not present a very large-hearted picture of God. How do people maintain this unclenched faith in God’s love, in light of such stories in our Holy Book?